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How the World’s First Social Sustainability Bond is Connecting Back Streets to Wall Street
The Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB) is the world’s first social sustainability bond with a dual focus on social and financial returns to be listed on a stock exchange. This represents "an immense achievement for impact investing," says Rakhi Sahay, head of Knowledge Management at Impact Investment Exchange. The WLB gives the Cambodian woman entrepreneur, the Filipino farmer, and the Vietnamese mother access to capital by providing loans to high-impact enterprises and microfinance institutions.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Sharing SOCAP: Why My Favorite Conference Needs to Leave San Francisco – And Other Takeaways from #SOCAP17
SOCAP and San Francisco: They go together like GIIN and Toniic. Bad impact investing jokes aside, NextBillion editor Scott Anderson makes the case that it's time for the much-loved social business conference to "throw off the moorings of the beautiful Marina District and consider other cities where the promise of impact investing is gaining steam." Check out his argument, along with other takeaways from the event, in this roundup.
- Categories
- Investing
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Millennials Love ESG, Just Not As Much As Their Parents, Grandparents
In the AllianzGI ESG Clarity survey, investors aged 65 and older were more interested in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing than younger generations.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Deciphering Emerson’s Tears – Is it Time for Impact Investing to Lower its Expectations?
At SOCAP17, impact investing pioneer Jed Emerson gave a tearful speech from the main plenary stage, in which he called on the industry to remember the true purpose of capital, and not to let its efforts to build the market distract from its higher goals. We explore some potential implications of this emotional high point of the conference.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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SLI launches positive screening Global Equity Impact fund
Standard Life Investments has launched a Global Equity Impact fund, investing in companies which are making a positive contribution to society and/or the environment.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, SDGs
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Register for Social Finance Forum, Canada’s Leading Impact Investing Event – Get 10% Discount
Now in its 10th year, the Social Finance Forum, organized by MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, is Canada’s leading gathering of impact investors and social entrepreneurs. It bestows Social Finance Awards, for which the deadline to apply is Oct. 20. There's also a Venture Pitch Competition with a $5,000 prize. NextBillion is a media partner and our readers get a 10 percent discount.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Why is Asia lukewarm to sustainable investing?
Investors in Asia, a region made up of numerous emerging markets that have made economic growth a priority, typically take a shorter-term view on investments. Coupled with a lack of government initiatives to drive sustainable investing, Asian investors and their fund managers have lagged far behind their western counterparts in embracing “ESG investing” – the inclusion of companies’ environmental, social and governance performance as criteria in fund allocation decisions.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Impact Investing: Take the Risk Your Challenge Deserves
At the risk of stating the obvious, investing in early-stage companies is risky. Why then would a foundation – which some might argue are organizations that have a low risk tolerance – get into impact investing? Jami O'Toole, of Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, explains why investments in for-profit firms can fill a missing piece of the puzzle in a foundation’s portfolio and generate social benefit at the same time.
- Tags
- impact investing
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